Plane of occlusion indicator



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PLANE OF OCCLUSION INDICATOR Filed Nov. 22, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l 1205527" C. BAKE? INVENTOR.

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PLANE OF OCCLUSION INDICATOR Fil ed Nov. 22, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 O 4 H 9 J m) M IN V [JN'I UR.

R 08527 C BAKE? United States Patent 3,464,115 PLANE 0F OCCLUSION INDICATOR Robert C. Baker, 6437 Whitsett Ave.,

North Hollywood, Calif. 91606 Filed Nov. 22, 1965, Ser. No. 508,902 Int. Cl. A61c 9/00 US. CI. 32-19 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A plane of occlusion indicator is disclosed having extendable means adapted to span the face of a patient in a condylar plane and means for establishing the plane of occlusion. Adjustable means are movably interconnected between said extendable and said establishing means adapted to selectively vary the space therebetween.

This invention relates to dental apparatus and more particularly to a novel dental instrument for locating wax bite blocks in a patients mouth to establish the correct plane of occlusion preparatory to the construction of dentures.

In performing prosthetic services, a dentist as well as other dental specialists are especially concerned with a variety of problems and difficulties encountered in the construction of dentures. It is conventional practice to employ wax bite blocks which are located in a patients mouth for the purpose of deriving teeth impressions from which the dentures can be constructed. However, the location of such Wax blocks is extremely critical and precise. Perhaps the most important factor to be taken into account is the establishment of the plane of occlusion when the opposing surfaces of the teeth of the two jaws are brought into contact with each other. The occlusion plane is not horizontal since the head does not rest in this attitude. In the mouth, the occlusion plane inclines backwards and upward and the slope of the teeth should allow for this inclination. Once the correct plane of occlusion has been established by the bite blocks, the biting pressures experienced by the resultant dentures are equalized on both the users skin tissue and bone.

I have found that the plane of occlusion is parallel to a plane extending from beneath the base of the nose to the ear or condyle and that the maintainance of this parallel relationship can be employed to establish the correct plane of occlusion for the wax bite blocks. Accordingly, the apparatus of the present invention provides, in general, means for establishing a condyle plane extending from the ear through the base of the nose and means detachably connected with the wax bite blocks in a patients mouth for establishing the plane of occlusion. Adjustable means are employed to connect the condyle plane means and the occlusion plane means together so that the apparatus may be adjusted to ensure that the condyle and occlusion means are exactly in fixed parallel relationship. Inasmuch as measurements differ from person to person, the device of the present invention incorporates various adjustment means for setting up the desired relationships between the condyle and occlusion means.

Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel dental apparatus which is operable to establish a correct plane of occlusion between wax bite blocks preparatory to the construction of dentures.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel dental apparatus which includes an upper means for establishing a condyle plane and a lower means for establishing the plane of occlusion 'whereby both means are adjustably connected together so that the correct plane of occlusion can be established when the upper and lower means are in fixed spaced parallel relationship.

Patented Sept. 2, 1969 Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel dental apparatus for establishing a correct plane of occlusion preparatory to the construction of dentures which may be readily adjusted in situ about the head of a patient so that a correct plane of occlusion can be established by wax bite blocks held in the patients mouth.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the novel dental apparatus of the present invention for determining the correct plane of occlusion and further illustrating the position of the apparatus with respect to the head and face of a patient during the use thereof;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the dental apparatus shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view, partly in elevation, of the dental apparatus as taken in the direction of arrows 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of the central portion of the dental apparatus illustrated in FIGURE 2.; and

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the wax block engaging portion of the dental apparatus as taken in the direction of arrows 55 of FIGURE 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, the dental apparatus of the present invention is shown in the general direction of arrow 10 and is illustrated as being disposed about the face of the patients head 11 for the purpose of determining the correct plane of occlusion preparatory to the construction of dentures.

The instrument or apparatus 10 includes, in general, elongated means 12 for establishing a condyle plane which extends through the condyle or car 13 and the base of the patients nose 14. Means 15 are provided for determining the plane of occlusion between a pair of wax bite blocks 16 and 17 held in the patients mouth. A portion of the patients face around the area of the mouth is broken away to more clearly illustrate the wax bite blocks 16 and 17 which are employed to make dentures impressions. The means 12 and 15 lying on the condyle plane and the plane of occlusion, respectively, are adjustably joined together by means of a rack and pinion mechanism 18 which permits vertical adjustment between means 12 and 15 to close or widen the space provided between the two means. It is to be particularly noted that the means 12 and 15 are maintained in spaced apart parallel relationshp by the rack and pinion mechanism 18 and that this relationship never changes even though the spacing between the two means is adjustable.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3, the dental apparatus 10 of the present invention includes the condyle means 12 which is of a substantially U-shaped configured member 20 suitable for spanning the face of a patient along the opposite cheeks thereof in a plane extending between the ears on both sides of the head and the base of the nose. The member 12 includes base 21 incorporating extensions 22 and 23 slidably mounted on the opposite ends of the base by any suitable means. However, as illustrated more clearly in FIGURE 3, a tongue and groove arrangement 24 is employed to slidably retain the extensions of the ends of the base. Thumb screws 25 are employed to fix the extensions to the base so that a desired length of the extension may be projected from the base as illustrated in broken lines in FIGURE 2. Once the screws 25 are tightened, the extensions are rigidly fixed to the base.

Pivotally secured on the projecting end of each extenice sion 22 and 23, there is provided an arm member 26 and 27, respectively, which is secured to the extensions by means of nuts 28. Arm members 26 and 27 may be arranged to fit the face or head width of a variety of persons having different facial dimensions.

To accommodate the distance between the base 21 and the ear 13 of a patient, each are member 26 and 27 includes an extendable section 30 and 31 which is slidably mounted on each respective arm member and adapted to be extended from the end of each arm opposite to its end connected to the base for any desired length. Thumb screws 32 may be employed to fixedly secure the extendable sections 30 and 31 to the respective arm members once the preferred length of arm member has been determined.

Pivotally carried on the extendable end of each arm member 30 and 31, there is provided a fixture 33 and 34, respectively, which is adapted to pivot in a horizontal plane. The free end of each fixture 33 and 34 loosely carries a probe member 35 and 36 which project in a direction substantially transverse to the central longitudinal axis of each arm member and which includes opposrotating a pinion intermeshed with a rack gear 59 provided on one side of the post 61. A precise location of the body 45 between the upper stop 63 and the lower stop 62 can be effected by rotating a cam lock 65 which effects the holding of the rack and pinion in mesh to prohibit vertical movement of body 45 until the lock is released.

It is to be particularly noted that although the vertical dimension between the extendable arms 26 and 27 and the body 45 may be varied, the arm members and the body 45 are always maintained in spaced parallel relationship with respect to each other by means of the rigid posts 60 and 61. The proper vertical dimension .ing indexing stubs 37 and 38. Fixtures 33 and 34 may be prevented from rotating by tightening of thumb screws 40 and 41 which when tightened causes the fixtures to be secured to the extendable sections and 31, respectively, carried by the arm members. In order to permit the probes and 36 to be loosely mounted on the fixtures, each probe includes a reduced portion 42 into which a biased pin 43 is forcibly urged by means of compression spring 44 as seen in FIGURE 3.

The means 15 for determining the plane of occlusion includes a body 45 having a cavity 46 in which there is movably mounted a mechanism member 47 for effecting pivotal movement of a pair of pivotal elements 50 and 51. The elements 50 and 51 are attached to the body 45 by means of pivots 52 and are connected to the actuating mechanism member 47 by means of links 53 and 54 so that a type of lazy tong or scissor mechanism is employed for moving the elements 50 and 51 such that their projecting ends move towards each other or away from each other as the case may be, The body wall of body 45 which defines the cavity 46 is configured so as to accommodate the width of the mechanism member 47 so that the mechanism will move rectilinearly within the cavity 46 to effect the pivoting of elements 50 and 51. The mechanism member 47 is operated by means of threaded engagement with a rotatable shaft 55 which extends along the lenth of the body 45 and terminates in a knob 56 for effecting rotation of the shaft 55. The rotary movement of the knob 56 effects the rectilinear movement of the mechanism member 47.

It is to be noted that each element 50 and 51 includes pairs of opposing pins, such as pins 57 and 58, which are adapted to be received into the wax bite blocks 16 and 17 that are held in the patients mouth. It is to be noted that disposed between elements 50 and 51, there is a pin 49 attached to the end of base 45. Pin 49 serves :as a vertical locating pin means or a point of registration since the pin can be inserted at a horizontal mark on the wax bite block indicating where the length of incisal edge of the central upper teeth is to be. This reference mark and pin are used to assist in establishing the plane of occulsion.

Referring now to FIGURE 4, the central portion of the dental apparatus is shown which illustrates a pair of upright posts 60 and 61 wherein one end of the posts are suitably attached to mount the base 21 of the condyle means 12 and wherein the opposite ends of the posts terminate in a lower stop bar 62. An upper stop bar 63 is provided in addition to the stop bar 62 to limit the travel of the occlusion means 15 therebetween. Body 45 of the occlusion means 15 is operably connected to the post 61 by means of a rack and pinion arrangement indicated by numeral 64 which includes a knob for on the upper wax bite block is first marked by the dentist with a horizontal line on the block and thereafter, the distance from this mark to the base of the nose is measured to determine the opening of the upper bite block and establish the incisal edge of the upper teeth. This measurement is transferred to the plane of occlusion indicator so the distance between the bottom of element 50 and the bottom of element 12 are of the same measurement. The dentist can also mark a median line across the horizontal line which represents the location of the center of the face. Elements 50 and 51 are positioned to fit the bite block wax loosely before placing in patients mouth. The center pin 49 between elements 50 and 51 on the base 45 is placed at the horizontal mark representing vertical opening on the bite block, at the median line. When the pin is so inserted in the wax, the arms 26 and 27 extend past the base of the nose and the body 45, including elements 50 and 51 and the arm members, will lie in different but parallel planes so that the wax bite blocks will assume the proper position and therefore establish the correct plane of occlusion based on the condylar plane. A feature of the invention also resides in the fact that a scale, such as is indicated by reference numeral 66, is provided on the outer face of post 61 so that the upper side of the body 45 may be accurately positioned on the post 60 and 61 in accordance with particular vertical dimensions.

What is claimed is:

1. Dental apparatus for establishing the correct plane of occlusion between wax bite blocks held in a patients mouth preparatory to the construction of dentures comprising:

extendable means adapted to span the face of the patient and to lie in a condylar plane extending from both ears across the base of the patients nose wherein said extendable means includes a base, elongated arm members pivotally carried on opposite ends of said base wherein each of said arm members includes an elongated section for mounting probe means on the end thereof which is slidably carried on each of said arm members so as to selectively extend the length thereof between said base and the ear of the patient;

said probe means loosely carried on the end of each of said arm members including preformed stud elements arranged in opposing relationship and being adapted to be inserted into the hearing canal of the patients ears to establish the condylar plane;

said arm members being laterally movable whereby the distance between said probe means may be selectively varied to accommodate the width of the patients head;

means for establishing the plane of occlusion detachably connected to the wax bite blocks in the patients mouth and arranged in spaced parallel relationship to said extendable means wherein said means lying in the occlusion plane includes an elongated body having a cavity formed therein, a pair of curved elements pivotally attached to one end thereof and being adapted to receive the wax bite blocks therebetween, said ends of said elements extending into said cavity, and mechanism operatively carried on said body Within said cavity and operative upon said extending ends to selectively pivot said pair of elements to engage and disengage with the wax bite blocks; and

adjustable means movably connecting said extendable means to said means lying in parallel thereto and being adapted to selectively increase and decrease the space therebetween while maintaining the parallel relationship therebetween so that the correct plane of occlusion can be established by the wax bite blocks in response to the establishment of the condylar plane by said extendable means wherein said adjustable means includes rigid posts secured on one end to said base and slidably carrying said body in spaced parallel relationship to said arm members and means operatively coupling said body to said posts.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 including scale indicia displayed on one of said pair of posts operable in connection with said body to precisely space said body from said arm members so as to indicate vertical dimension therebetween.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 including spring biasing means carried by each of said arrn members to retain each of said probe means in position on the respective ends thereof.

4. The invention. as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for establishing the plane of occlusion further includes, a pin carried on said base midway between said pair of curved elements.

5. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for establishing the plane of occlusion further includes a vertical locating pin means carried on said base between said curved elements adapted for insertion into the wax bite block at the horizontal indication of the length of the incisal edge of the central upper teeth.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT PESHOCK, Primary Examiner 

